Newton County hog farm resolution tabled in Marion County

The Marion County Quorum Court on Tuesday night tabled a resolution that would have backed Newton County in its support for C&H Hog Farm in Mt. Judea. The hog farm was denied a new operating permit in January, and is continuing operation while it appeals that decision.(Photo11: Kevin Pieper/The Baxter Bulletin)Buy Photo

YELLVILLE — A resolution supporting Newton County in its decision to support a hog farm was tabled Tuesday night by the Marion County Quorum Court.

Newton County had requested that the Marion County Quorum Court consider the resolution, which backed Newton County in their decision to support C&H Hog Farm in Mt. Judea.

After about 45 minutes of discussion regarding the hog farm, justices voted 6-3 to table issue until the Quorum Court could hold a public meeting on the resolution. No date was scheduled Tuesday night for that meeting.

C&H Hog Farm contains 2,500 sows and up to 6,500 pigs in total. Liquid waste from the hogs is retained in two waste ponds and is sprayed on 600 acres of farmland as fertilizer. The farm operates adjacent to Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River.

In 2012, C&H won approval for a federal waste permit no longer administered by the state, and the farm’s recent bid to replace it with one issued by the state failed when regulators said the farm had not studied groundwater flow or developed an emergency plan. C&H continues to operate as it appeals the rejection of a new permit.

Environmental groups have opposed the operation of the hog farm, citing fears that manure runoff could contaminate the Buffalo River, which flows six miles from the farm.

“I don’t understand why we’re dealing with Newton County’s stuff,” Marion County Justice of the Peace Joyce McCalla said. “This is a resolution, not a law. Whatever we vote, it’s not going to make anything any different than what it is right now. This is something that the Quorum Court never should have thought about taking on.”

In discussion regarding the hog farm, Justice of the Peace Claudia Brigham said she would vote against the resolution and agreed with McCalla that the issue belonged in Newton County. Fellow JP Carl McBee Jr. said he was uncomfortable voting either way on the issue, citing its location outside Marion County.

JP Brady Madden said he supported the hog farm, which has had no citations for manure runoff or water contamination.

“It’s hard for me to vote no on something when I can’t see that they’re doing anything wrong. I’m a farmer, and I will stand behind them 100 percent,” he said. “You all voted me in to be a JP, and I sit here and hear complaint after complaint after complaint. Nobody’s really got a complaint (here).”

Steve Blumreich, president of Friends of the North Fork and White River and a board member with the Buffalo River Alliance, told the Quorum Court he worried about the farm’s waste ponds, which hold about 2.3 million gallons of liquid waste.

“Folks, we know they are going to leak, and they are leaking,” he said. “Just imagine what is in that liquid hog waste – the medications that are given the hogs, the bacteria that runs through those hogs. I would not want to have a well in that area. That’s karst topography, just like we have here, and that water can seep everywhere and anywhere.”

Jason Henson, one of the owners of C&H Hog Farm, told the Quorum Court that an engineering study showed that the farm’s waste ponds were not leaking.

“We’ve been inspected by the (Environmental Protection Agency),” Henson said. “The EPA came up and inspected us for three days. Know what they found? One of the best farms they’ve ever been to.

“My concern is — not only for farming but any business owner — if the state issues you a permit and can jerk that permit out from under you with no rhyme or reason, you need to think about who’s next. It’s not about farming, it’s about right and wrong, guys.”

After a lengthy discussion, justices turned their discussion on whether to vote on the resolution Tuesday night or table the discussion until later. Justices ultimately voted 6-3 to table the issue, with Mike Scrima, Nicholas Nugent, Gregg Alexander, Wesley Shipman, McBee Jr. and McCalla each in favor of tabling it and Raymond Mayo, Brigham and Madden expressing a desire to vote on it that night and voting against tabling it.

The Marion County resolution was placed on the Quorum Court’s March agenda by the Procedures and Management Committee without a recommendation whether justices of the peace should support it. The resolution was referred to the Quorum Court by Newton County officials, who requested that Marion County consider it.

“At least me, personally — I’ll let the others speak for themselves — think those requests should be taken seriously,” McBee Jr. said. “That’s why a committee meeting was called and it was placed on the agenda. That doesn’t mean automatic support or endorsement, but I do think you will find the governments in the state, counties and cities show each other that courtesy.”